I just turned 31 so the first SW film I saw in theater was TPM, not my first contact with SW but never had I been so thriled after seeing a movie in my life until that point (I later saw the OT...
), so yeah I'm a prequels kid (not that I like the PT so much mind you) and I have to say I'm not such a fan of Rey but I have absolutelly no problem with the character and I think it's one of the things done right in this ST, plus I do like Ridley, she's a fine actress.
I can agree with many of the points you bring up, but saying nobody likes the ST and it's a flop is not acknowledging the franchise has already made more money than it costed to buy from George (TFA
3rd best grossing film of all time $2billion, TLJ 11th $1,3billion, RO 29th $1billion...) not counting merchandise (increasing $1,5 billion a year), series, parks... and what's to come. Even by the infamous rotten tomatoes poll's standarts (only 44% like it) it's a bit of a stretch to say
nobody likes it, and we might not know people who do IRL but there's more people coming to SW thanks to the ST, particularly women, younger people and other countries (apparently SW is slowly getting an audience in China for example, and they don't vote on rotten tomatoes[emoji38]). I just bring this up because I read time and again all over the internet that the ST
ruined the franchise, and
we might think that way but I'ld say that
at least by Disney's execs standarts, they sure must believe they're doing a pretty good job. And they actually might not be so far from the truth in some aspects, just take the Mandalorian for example!...
But anyway, back on track, I see they're treading lightly with Episode 9, or rather treading heavily on fan service, but I think it's just a way to appease the more hardcore fans and reconcile them with the franchise so they go to the theaters come december, I don't think they will retcon TLJ at all, but just move forward. After all, except some deaths
it hasn't changed so much to the plot. JJ has an almost blank slate.